Programme on opportunities, challenges for electric vehicles starts at NIT Srinagar

A statement of the NIT issued here said that the FDP was being sponsored by India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) Training and Learning (ATAL) Academy, AICTE New Delhi.

The inaugural session was attended by more than 200 participants from across the country.

The inaugural session of the FDP was presided over by Director NIT Srinagar, Prof Rakesh Sehgal,  while Prof C S Shankar Ram, Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras was the guest of honour.

Harveer Singh Pali, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering is the coordinator, while Mohammad Mursaleen, Mohammad Mohsin Khan from the ME department and Neeraj Gupta, Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering are the co-coordinators, while Shabir Ahmad Sofi is the Technical Advisor and Institute Coordinator, ATAL.

On the occasion, Prof Sehgal said the theme of FDP was interesting as a topic is more relevant in the present scenario when fuel prices are increasing. Although there are multiple challenges to  electric vehicles including charging stations, lack of proper infrastructure, he said.

"In many places across India, local governments had launched electric vehicles for public transportation. It requires a huge chunk of batteries but the question is what will happen when these batteries become redundant, how to recycle or dispose of them, which is a major challenge," the  Director of NIT said.

Prof Sehgal said now the technology was so advanced, one could think of anything and then even produce that or use it for any purpose.

"We have very efficient batteries and now we have maintenance-free batteries for our cost, which will come for 3-4 years, we don’t need to do anything except checking the water level," he said.

Additionally, he said, "I hope this FDP will discuss various aspects, challenges and will try to find out some tangible solutions. Then these solutions can be shared with industries."

The Director NIT Srinagar also appreciated the ME department team led by Head of Department  (HOD) Prof Sheikh Nazir Ahmad and other organizers for taking the lead in conducting training sessions for the faculty.

In his message, Registrar NIT, Prof Kaiser Bukhari also appreciated the ME department for conducting FDP on a relevant topic.

While expert talk on vehicle dynamics perspective on electric and hybrid electric vehicle power train was delivered by Prof C S Shankar Ram, Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras,  Chennai who was the guest of honour during the inaugural session.

FDP Patron and HoD, ME Department, Prof Nazir Ahmad Sheikh said electrical vehicle (EV) is a  prominent solution of fuel crises and environmental pollution for the global transportation sector.

Prof Sheikh said, "From nuclear technology, we are going to run with the grace of God thousands of years in future and if we are able to trap this energy in terms of batteries. Then use this energy for  locomotives and automotive it is going to solve the problems of mankind."

Earlier, Harveer Singh Pali welcomed the resource persons and participants in the week-long FDP.

"During the FTP, the participants will be introduced to the fundamentals of Electric Vehicles,  components such as batteries, drives, and controllers used in of Electric Vehicles and develop an understanding of how to use optimization techniques to improve the features of EVs," Pali said.

In the second session, the inauguration of 63 ATAL online FDP was hosted by Chairman, AICTE,  Prof Anil D Sahasrabudhe, who was the guest of honour, followed by a key address of Jaswinder S  Ahuja, Chief Guest, Vice-president and MD Cadence Design System India Ltd.

It was followed by another session by T K Bera, NIT Durgapur on Research Opportunities in  Electric Vehicle Technology, while Neeraj Gupta, NIT Srinagar also delivered his topic on Recent  EV Technologies.